Written by Khalid Mohamed in The Asian Age.
No winking. Eyes are a lethal weapon in the armoury of actors. Those who don’t know how to — or refuse to — act with their eyes end up delivering mediocre to lousy performances. They may be the most-wanted desserts after caramel custard but sorry they won’t be remembered as actors of calibre.
Take Salman Khan who always plays Salman Khan in every film he does. Fortuitously his acting streak has been visible once in an indigo moon — when he has been directed by Sooraj Barjatya or Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Forget the ghastly guest appearance in Saawariya though. Otherwise after a career of over two decades, the 46-year-old Khan hasn’t yet toted a performance of serious merit. A pity, because he is the most good-looking of the three Khans.
Indifference towards the potential of eyes — putting on glares randomly — are clear signs of an actor’s arrested development. Like it or not, the Bodyguard Khan exploits his body far more than er... his hidden soul.
So why am I getting into the eye thing this Sunday morning? It’s because I’ve been noticing eyes of the newbies go dead even in the liveliest of scenes. Ranveer Singh, who was such a delight in Band Baaja Baarat, is thoroughly vacuous in Ladies Versus Ricky Bahl. When he casts an adoring gaze at Anushka Sharma, he conveys about as much love as a divorce court. As for Anushka, her permanently pasted-on smiley excludes any emoting from the eyes. Neither, obviously, is convinced internally about the roles they are portraying. Ergo, the mechanical performances. Not surprisingly, debutante Parineeti Chopra, her eyes flashing anger and infatuation alternately, stole the romcom away from its lead pair.
Other actors whose eyes switch off as soon as the camera is on, are Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Imran Khan and Akshay Kumar. You can never grasp what they’re thinking of because they haven’t taken acting to the level of the functional, or just about passable.
Of the heroines, Katrina Kaif used to be a blink-blink machine (she’s improved of late). Priyanka Chopra admittedly uses her eyes alluringly, but her mouth twists and wriggles far too much. In a scene in What’s Your Raashi?, Ms Chopra twitches her lips so furiously that it’s scary. Kareena Kapoor’s eyes are either very sad or very happy, with no-in-betweens. She fancies herself as a tremendous actress, but is she? She’s as bad or good as the role assigned to her. Proof: bad in Tashan (etc.), good in Chameli and Jab We Met. And for totally zonked out eyes, there’s Kangna Ranaut, who always looks as if she should have had an extra-strong cup of coffee before facing the camera.
On the more sparkling side, Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and (surprise, surprise) Sunny Deol and Emraan Hashmi can look at the camera impactfully. In fact, Dilip Kumar could talk more forcefully with his silences even in his latter-day films like Shakti: a flicker of his eyes said more than thousands of words.
In the era of colour movies, the eye factor has been used wonderfully over the years by Sadhana, Rekha, Raakhee, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Sridevi, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu and Vidya Balan (best without contact lenses). Hema Malini’s eyes are hypnotic but speak fluently mainly during the dance sequences.
One of the virtues of acting from the eyes is the ability to cry without using glycerine. No one compares to Dilip Kumar and Aamir Khan in this emotionally demanding art. So the next time you’re at the movies, do look at what the eyes are saying. Or are they blank?
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why is parineeti chopra in this post?? she just came into bollywood...and that too in a minor role :S
Katrina does blink blink because she is gets nervous before the camera. Notice her off-screen she doesn't do that. Its just that she was never meant to be an actor. This is not her thing. Kareena is a below average actress and doesn't offer a range of expressions. All the films she was appreciated in, we just see Kareena in it. She doesnt bring another character.
Imran and Salman are the worse in actors. Oh and John too. Abhishek is a good actor with large, expressive eyes. But his look is always grumpy so people get deceived by that.
I think Smita patil and Tabu use their eyes wonderfully. They are the best actresses. Sridevi and Aishwarya also make good use of their eyes.
Aishwarya and Sridevi most expressive.....Most "dead" eyes award goes to Katrina hands down! Dont much like Karishma's eyes either...
The most expressive eyes has to be Shah Rukh Khan's. And this person is wrong, SRK IS THE MOST Good-looking of all the khans and the entire industry. He is the most handsome and sexiest man on earth
well evryone has a certain way of xpressing there eyes
but for me its has to be sri devi kareena and rani
they r the best when its comes to emote xpressions from your eyes
Kareena & Katrina worst.
Aish, sridevi, Kajol & Rani r the best
Most expressive actress has to be Rani bcoz who can forget her expressions in KANK and Saawariya!
Actually Madhuri's EYES ARE VERY EXPRESSIVE.
Some of her past movies weren't that great in the beginning (but then again that era didn't offer as much for women-oriented roles as they did later on). But MD's acting was always upto mark if not better which always heightened the film's potential. She is an emotes well with her face, eyes and of course her voice.
Not fair if you didn't mention it on purpose. And I am not saying this cause I am some crazy MD fan but cause it is like it is. Sanjeev Kumar is another man that was brilliant be it facially, expressive eyes and my oh my overpowering voice tones. what a man!!!!!!!!!! what an actor!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes Aishwarya emote with her eyes so beautiful!! Her eyes speak volumes in every scene. Good actress.
I kinda agree with the article especially about Kareena I think she one of the worst actresses we have?? I always get confused by her expressions, sometimes she has too many emotions you cannot tell what she trying to say. Lol Katrina ohh well she did she every did acting in a movie. Loved Sridevi expressive eyes too
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yeah Aishwarya's eyes speak so much volume since they filled with contact lenses imported from Brazil specailly made painted by hands.
@Sun, 2012-01-29 12:23 — Anonymous sour grapes? i'm just giving my opinion...i disagreed with him slightly and that was my view. everyone is entitled to a different opinion otherwise the world would be a boring place. if you agree with this article, then, that's your view not mine - you can't force people to agree with things they don't.
@Sun, 2012-01-29 13:52 — Anonymous they've given good performances and imran is shaping up to be a good actor. yes this guy has researched cinema for however many years but that doesn't mean his view is 100% right just like you don't agree with me.
and to ^^, i know why you singled me out - because i didn't agree that ash uses her eyes wonderfully.
Sun, 2012-01-29 17:48 — Kitty
Appreciate you for once not praising your favourite,,i skipped Schmuck's comment cos i knew what it would be but was suprised at yours..your right, Hrithik's beautiful eyes did need a mention since they are expressive and was totally bowled over by Rishi in Agneepath, his eyes were menacing and evil!. and for once i fully agree with you, Sri's eyes so far has been the most expressive of the lot. I was watching Lamhe sometime back and couldn't get over her expressive eyes for a couple of days!
That why i love Aamir and Rani, and few other have potential they have been good in some movies, but how can you forget Madhuri?
First ranks Srideviji and second comes Kareena Kapoor.
The most expressive actress ought to be Sreedevi.
I agree with someone's comment below..Khaled mohammed shares really cold vibes with madhuri and hence no mention of her..coz obv he couldnt mention her and say anything negative
I so agree about Abhishek the guy has the same expression whole the time and see nothing in his eyes blank
Yes Aishwarya emote with her eyes so beautiful!! Her eyes speak volumes in every scene. Good actress.
I kinda agree with the article especially about Kareena I think she one of the worst actresses we have?? I always get confused by her expressions, sometimes she has too many emotions you cannot tell what she trying to say. Lol Katrina ohh well she did she every did acting in a movie. Loved Sridevi expressive eyes too
Oh and about Katrina's blink-blink, I don't think she does it on purpose, some people just have a nervous tic and their eyes will flutter uncontrollably. I notice her doing it in interviews, and off-screen events, etc so I don't think she is "improving" in that regard (as the article says) I think maybe those blinky moments just end up getting edited out of her movies.
Hmmm interesting article! I agree with it for the most part, and I'm glad they mentioned Irrfan Khan, one actor who I feel doesn't get his due in Bollywood. He was so amazing in The Namesake, and yes the eyes had a lot to do with it! Also we all know how expressive SRK's eyes are, not to mention his expressive eyebrows! Amitabh Bachchan's eyes, especially in a movie like Paa are incredibly expressive. Fresh off watching Agneepath yesterday (and with Guzaarish in mind), Hrithik's gold-flecked eyes definitely deserved a special mention! And OMG Sanjay Dutt (who usually sleepwalks through roles like Rascals) had some crrrazy eye action in Agneepath too, and let's not forget Rishi! (Yes I'm still buzzing off Agneepath LOL)
Also interesting that as far as actresses go, the ones who are the best dancers usually nail it in the "expressions" department! But I disagree with the writer's take on KK, she has at least 2 more expressions, the "temper tantrum" expression as well as the "snobby, I'm better than you" expression, which can be seen enacted in most of her characters, most notably Poo. As for the heroine with the most expressive eyes EVER I would have to say Sridevi who conveyed so much with a look. Also Shabhana Azmi, Smita Patil, and Rekha exhibited moments of brilliance with their eyes! Great topic btw! :)
vidya in parineeta and paa.....most expressive eyes!
Kajol is the most beautiful eyes of all the actresses! This is most true of all Bollywood.
Kareena's eyes or other side has no value to those of Kajol
Aamir and SRK are super strong, especially when they are angry!
Kajol t'es la meilleure actrice indienne !! La plus belle !! On t'aime !!
A french Fan
Aishwarya has stunning eyes!! She's able to convey her emotions wonderfully through them, even without saying anything!!
But I'd like to point out that the writer says an intersting thing about Kareena Kapoor: "She fancies herself as a tremendous actress, but is she? " I was ROFL!!! She's so ARROGANT and claims everywhere she's great! Sorry dear, you're not!! I don't think she's a bad actress but her constant need to proclaim she's the best is a huge turn off!! You don't see Ash do it even when everyone preases her...Gosh...
i agree with this article 99% ... most of it is spot on
Love the article.Thanks!
aamir n aish. they shud make a movee togerther
i think ajay devgun has really intense eyes, he's a great actor! Akshay khanna has very expressive eyes aswell and who can forget rani mukerjee!
imran and kareena r the worst IMO. Their movie is also gonan flop badly
@Sun, 2012-01-29 08:38 — Anonymous
Astonished to see there's mo mention of Madhuri Dixit.
Madhuri was never taken seriously as an actress. Her body of work is appalling to say the least. But yeah, she;s a great dancer and that's how she became popular.
pcbebolover u are the same person who said salman khan and imran khan r great actors right? of course u'll disagree with a connoisseur of cinema like Mr.Khalid Mohamed who has spent half a century of his life watching, researching and analyzing movies and performances.
Ajay Devgan's eyes are so dark and intense. He's one of the sexiest men in Bollywood, though I may be in minority when I say this.
I watched Raavanan recently...and gosh, those sapphire-blue eyes - The sparkling, emblazoned, sapphire-blue mesmerizing eyes of Aishwarya Rai not only captivates you with the beauty they hold but also speak louder than her words. Her expressive eyes display a host of emotions from fright to denunciation to love to anguish. God has not only blessed her with such stunning eyes but also taught her how to use them. Fabulous.